


Remus J. Lupin

by Iwrteficsnottragedies



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 3: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Dementors, Gen, Hogwarts Express, Hogwarts Third Year, Marauders, POV Remus Lupin, Sad Remus Lupin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-15
Updated: 2019-11-15
Packaged: 2021-01-31 05:55:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21441304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iwrteficsnottragedies/pseuds/Iwrteficsnottragedies
Summary: Everything was exactly the same besides the horrid scar on his forehead.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 25





	Remus J. Lupin

Remus J. Lupin sat alone in the empty train compartment with nothing but his wand in hand and a suitcase to accompany him. Howling winds roared from outside the window as he sat looking around the small room in the same sad, yearning manner that often found a way upon his face. It had been over fifteen years since he had sat in this leather-coated seat, eating Honeydukes chocolate and playing Exploding Snap with the three people he thought would always be by his side. Fifteen years since they pulled their last prank off on Severus. Fifteen years since the engravings on the door were carved in hopes of leaving a mark on the world. They hadn't known at the time, but they had. Just not in the way they might have hoped.

It was here that he had met Sirius and James for the first time, even if he hadn't wanted to talk much at the time. He was wordlessly gratefully they had helped him push his social boundaries because if they hadn't, he feared he would have ended up alone for the entirety of his schooling years. They were partially the reason he had asked the sorting hat to put him in Gryffindor instead of Hufflepuff. 

"My whole family has been in Slytherin," Sirius says.

"Blimey," says James, "and I thought you seemed all right!" 

Sirius grins."Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"

James lifts an invisible sword. "'Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!' Like my dad."

They both looked back at Remus with wide eyes. "What about you? What house do you think you're going to be in?" 

The shy boy shrugs sheepishly and mutters quietly, "I don't know..." 

It was true. His father talked rarely of Hogwarts and his mother was a muggle woman who didn't dive too deep into the wizarding world despite her husband's position in the Ministry of Magic. 

"If you get in Gryffindor we would all share a dorm together and can stay up as long as we want! I even have some Whizzing Worms and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs."

Peter looked up from the seat next to him, inquisitive. "Aren't those...banned?"

Sirius laughs, jumping up to grab his trunk that was nearly too big for his eleven-year-old body. "I have some Bulbadox powder too!"

The two eagerly started discussing the best pranks to do without getting caught before trading chocolate frogs cards. James looked over at him with a curious glance and offered him some chocolate. Remus took it with wide eyes, happy to have some friends for the first time in a very long while.

Remus closed his eyes and tried imagining everything the same. Before He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and before Sirius was imprisoned. His heart ached at the thought. Never in a million years would he believe that Sirius would ever betray James. Sadly, there was an excruciating amount of evidence against those beliefs, causing his best friend to suffer a fate worse than death.

He sighed, his breath fogging up the clear window next to him. It was a split between the nostalgic past of the compartment and the warming temperature of the train that caused his eyes to flutter closed and fall into a deep sleep. Someday, if he wished hard enough, he thought, even him too could be transferred to the alternate reality that he had so desperately created in his sleep. 

~~~

Remus woke up to the learching of the train followed with a slam of a compartment door. 

"Ouch Ron, that was my foot!" A feminine voice exclaims somewhere to his right. His eyes fluttered open just slightly to see a darkened space from under his jumper.

The first thing he noticed about the room was the frigid temperatures. It seeped through his skin in a sickly sweet manner like a blade towards his heart. Up and down his arms he felt goosebumps rise in alert. Something was terribly wrong. 

"There's something moving out there..."

By the first scream, he knew his thoughts were right. Dementors. Despite this, his compartment was silent besides the labored breathing coming from what he assumed to be the kids next to him. That's all it took for Remus to peak over the top of his jacket to see what was happening. 

There was bushy haired blonde sat directly in front of him with uncertainty on her face. Next to her sat a ginger. His face was stretched out in such a comically scared manner he would have laughed if it was not for the pit of nothingness slowly devouring him from the inside out. 

He reached for his wand, preparing to block the haunting creature away when he heard the door open with a slow, eerily creek that sent shivers down his spine. 

The dementor glanced at the kids but then turned away, deciding they weren't important. Instead, the creature turned to advance towards him. Or so he thought. He hadn't seen the messy haired brunette sitting next to him until it was too late. 

A hand reached out from under the floating cloak as it began to suck the soul out of the child. Remus immediately went to jump to his feet but was caught off guard when he saw a lightning bolt scar emblazoned directly in the middle of the young teen's forehead. His gut twisted in on him. Never in his life had he felt such a need to throw up. The mark that cost him his friends' lives.

Never less, he snapped to his senses before it came too late. A silver wolf came out from his wand with a flick of his wrist. He had mastered the charm in his youth, causing it to come as natural to him as the magic in his blood. The dementor backed away from the bright light in a hurry. Soon after the brunette promptly collapsed into a heap on the seat. 

"Harry!" The young girl exclaimed, scaring the orange cat from her lap. The two kids sat up to move towards their fainted friend. The red-haired one stuffed what Remus assumed to be a rat into his pocket before placing a hand on his Harry's forehead. He pulled back his hand in alarm.

"He's freezing!"

Remus looked down at the unconscious boy and almost broke down in tears. It was as if his best friend had come back from the dead. Everything was exactly the same besides the horrid scar on his forehead. 

"What was that?" The girl asked. She was staring up at him expectantly in a way the reminded him of Lily. 

"A dementor. They glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope and happiness out of the air around them."

She didn't seem pleased with that answer. "The charm you did. It was the Patronus charm, wasn't it?" 

"Indeed," Remus agreed, amazed how the young witch in front of him was able to know magic so advanced. She nodded and turned her attention back to her friend. The other boy had already draped his pullover over his sleeping friend.

"Is he going to be alright?" He asked nervously. 

"Dementors are nasty things. He's going to feel a bit nauseated when he wakes up, but he should be fine in a few minutes." 

"Why didn't it attack us as well?"

Fear traveled in Remus's veins but never made it to his facial muscles or skin. His complexion remained, his eyes as steady. "...I have no idea."

Remus, in fact, knew exactly why. He just didn't want to say it out loud. It would tear his heart to more pieces than it already was by looking at the sleeping the boy. It took great fear and sadness for someone to pass out so soon from an attack. More sadness than a thirteen-year-old boy should be able to handle. 

The compartment fell into silence as they watched the Harry. Remus could barely hold in the aching need to hold the boy in his arms like when he was a baby. He had missed so much of his life and he blamed himself for it. He knew he should have fought against Dumbledore's words when they took him away to the Dursleys. Harry was his responsibility and now the young boy was suffering for it. He couldn't help but feel that he had failed James and Lily.

Slowly, Harry's eyes begin to stir. The blonde jumped up and immediately started bombarding the brunette with questions that Remus doubted he could even hear. "Merlin's beard Hermione! He just woke up, get him some room to breathe."

He glanced at the two kids who were worriedly fussing over their friend. He smiled softly, knowing at least his godson had friends who cared for him.

"Quite Ron, he's waking!" 

The ginger rolled his eyes.

Harry lifted his head softly off the seat cushions and looked around the train compartment in confusion. Hermione gave him his glasses that had fallen off previously and he took them gratefully. Remus took notice on the familiar emerald color in his eyes. 

Remus searched his pockets. When he finally found what he was looking for, he pulled it victoriously out of his jacket. Never did he venture far without a bit of chocolate. It was his comfort food.

He held out some in his hand. "Here, eat this. It'll help." Harry took it with hesitation. "It alright. It's chocolate."

"W-what was that thing?" He asked in a shaky tone. 

He relayed the information from earlier. "It was a dementor. One of the guards for Azkaban. It's gone now." Remus's heart pounded against his chest once again. "It was searching for Sirius Black." Remus had to be careful not to let his tears slip through. The presence of Harry and the dementor was much too strong for him to take at once. 

"And if you'll excuse me, I need to have a little word with the driver." He hadn't any intention of course to do such a thing. He just needed to get a breath of fresh air. 

He turned around as he was about to walk out the door to be met with Harry's curious stare. 

Remus smiled. "Eat. You'll feel better." 


End file.
